A flexible display is expected to be used in a wide range from a mobile bendable display to a large screen display. A flexible display is strongly desired to be realized as a next-generation display that is lightweight and is easily accommodated. Especially, a liquid crystal display element is applicable to both of a transmission-type display system and a reflection-type display system, and thus has a possibility of being applied to a flexible display that provides superb visible recognizability in any of various illumination environments.
A flexible substrate has an advantage of allowing a bezel (frame section that is other than a display screen and is visually recognized by a viewer) of a display device, including the flexible substrate, to be reduced in size. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2014-206760 discloses a display device in which a substrate is bended in both a display region and a wiring region connecting driving circuits, so that the driving circuits are located on a rear surface of the display region. In addition, in order to reduce the size of the bezel, it has recently been studied to bend the display device in a display region such that the bezel is not visually recognized by the viewer.
In a liquid crystal display device, a liquid crystal layer is enclosed by a sealant. In the liquid crystal display device, a pixel circuit is located in a liquid crystal region (region overlapping the liquid crystal layer as seen in a plan view), and a pixel selection circuit is located in a seal region (region overlapping the sealant as seen in a plan view). The pixel circuit and the pixel selection circuit are connected, via a wire, with a connection terminal provided in a terminal region outer to the sealant. The pixel circuit is connected with an external circuit via the connection terminal. In a state where the liquid crystal display device having the above-described structure is bended in a display region, the wire provided in both of the liquid crystal region and the seal region is bended. Since the liquid crystal region and the seal region have different layer structures, a portion of the wire in the liquid crystal region and a portion of the wire in the seal region are subjected to different levels of stress. When the display device is used while a strong stress is applied to the wire, the wire may be broken to decrease the reliability of the display device. Therefore, the stress applied to the wire needs to be alleviated. However, it has been difficult to alleviate the stress applied to the wire located both in the liquid crystal region and the seal region.